Firesign Theatre

Mudslinging and Other Things:  The tale of alternative universes continues.  Despite all of the incriminating evidence that Trump pushed an endangered ally to come up with dirt about a key rival and to assist in redirecting blame for the 2016 election interference from Russia to Ukraine, a number of Republicans showed up on the weekend talk shows to argue some combination of the incompetency defense, as in Trump did all those things but since he didn’t succeed it doesn’t count.  And if he did it, it’s not impeachable, it was just a lapse in judgement and anyway Obama did a lot of things that were impeachable and he wasn’t impeached.  For the record Obama, whether you liked him or didn’t, whether you agreed with his policies or not, didn’t do impeachable things.  Even Kellyanne Conway, who some suggest is Anonymous, the author whose book about the Trump White House is due out shortly, reappeared from wherever she’s been hiding to tell CNN’s Dana Bash that she didn’t know if there had been a quid pro quo and who cares if there was  because Ukraine ultimately did get their military aid.  Instead of responding to Fox News’ Chris Wallace question about why the White House is acting so obstructively if Trump is so innocent, Kellyanne attacked House Intel Committee Chairman Adam Schiff saying that he’s been mishandling his job.  In a sentence that rivals her “alternative facts” thing she actually said “I guess Adam Schiff’s growing mushrooms in the dark in his secret process, which is unfortunate because you cannot put that toothpaste back in the tube.”  What does that even mean? Anyway, she’s probably not Anonymous, but wouldn’t it be fun, bizarre and truly Trumpian if she was?  For his part, Trump demanded that the Democratic controlled media out the Whistleblower, called decorated military man Lt Colonel Vindman a never Trumper, while promising to release nasty stuff about him shortly,  threatened to shut down the government when funding runs out later this month to derail  impeachment proceedings and called Beto O’Rourke who dropped out of the presidential race nasty, pathetic and like a dog, but not that hero dog who we now know is named Conan.

Back to Ukraine, apparently in addition to stashing the transcript of the Zelensky call in the super-secret server, National Security Council lawyer John Eisenberg told Vindman not to tell anyone about it, problematic for lots of reasons as cover ups generally are, but also a hindrance to Vindman’s job which involves coordinating interagency activities related to Ukraine.  Unfortunately, we won’t be hearing from Eisenberg or his deputy Michael Ellis today because neither of them plan to show up for their scheduled testimony. Neither will Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney’s senior aide Robert Blair nor OMB official for natural resources and energy Brian McCormack.  Energy Rick Perry has also RSVPed with a big NO for Wednesday but hope springs eternal that former security advisor John Bolton will show up though don’t bet on it.  As to Trump, this drawn out saga’s protagonist,  he suggested that he’s considering holding an FDR like fireside chat, or maybe a surreal Firesign one, where he sits in front of a gas flame reading the “transcript” of his “perfect” Zelensky call to the country to prove how innocent he is. Not likely, though I think SNL missed a great opportunity this weekend, they should have gotten ahead of that with their own version.  Trump has reneged on some promises too, he’s abandoned pushing for any gun control and has rejected Nancy Pelosi’s push to lower drug prices, he’s done that while saying it’s all the fault of the “do nothing Democrats.”  And lastly, because Russia is never far from sight, through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request Buzzfeed got hold of some unpublished sections of Special Counsel Mueller’s interviews.  Apparently, Trump spent an inordinate amount of time pushing his aides to get those “missing” Hillary emails, Manafort seeded the idea of blaming Ukraine for the theft of the DNC emails in Trump’s psyche, and, during the campaign, Ivanka and Jared vacationed on a yacht with an as yet unnamed Russian oligarch.  That last one was something that Steve Bannon thought he’d be able to use to push them aside.  How’d that turn out?    

2020:  Elizabeth Warren is out with cost estimates for her Medicare For All plan, even Bernie thinks her numbers are fanciful at best and everyone else is hugely skeptical to put it mildly.  Speaker Pelosi is now on record calling for Democratic candidates to tone down their left leaning agenda because “What works in San Francisco does not necessarily work in Michigan” but “what works in Michigan works in San Francisco,” talking about “workers’ rights and sharing prosperity.” As to health care, she called for protecting the Affordable Care Act as “that’s the path to health care for all Americans, saying ”Medicare For All has its complications.” Assuming Trump hasn’t declared Marshall law by then, the next set of debates is scheduled to take place on November 20.  As of now nine candidates including Biden, Booker, Buttigieg, Harris, Klobuchar, Sanders, Warren, Steyer and Yang have qualified. So far five, including Biden, Buttigieg, Sanders, Warren and Harris have qualified for December.  Harris’ December qualification is notable as she is running low on cash and has downsized her staff, abandoning New Hampshire, the state that is expected to go for either Sanders or Warren, its neighboring senators.

While NYC marathon runners were uniformly cheered this weekend, Trump was mostly booed during his taxpayer funded  boondoggle to Madison Square Garden to see an Ultimate Fighting Championship match.  I am not sure what that is, though it does feel like we are all living through one.  Assuming, Trump doesn’t cancel it, election day 2020 is now less than one year away.  Stay strong.